Ramsey County’s recently renovated Union Depot, a bus-and-rail transit hub off Kellogg Boulevard, has issued about $1.25 million in public arts grants, most of it federally funded, and most of it going toward Twin Cities artists.

“Because federal money flowed into this project, there’s a requirement in federal statute that there’s going to be a national call for art,” said Deborah Carter McCoy, spokeswoman for the Ramsey County Regional Rail Authority.

Nevertheless, two of the four largest permanent art pieces are a $150,000 carriageway mural by the In Plain Sight Art Studio of Minneapolis and an interactive multi-media piece that will be installed by the Northern Lights Studio of Minneapolis, which received a $500,000 grant award.

Smaller pieces from local artists have included a ping-pong table and ceramic sculptures and murals, among other displays. There’s more to come, according to Carter McCoy.

“There is the expectation that this space will be used for visual and performing arts on an ongoing basis,” she said. “There’s just so much art that happens downtown, especially in this area of Lowertown, and trying to connect better with the artist community, it certainly is an opportunity.”

The Union Depot served as the central gathering point for the dusk-to-dawn arts celebration Northern Spark this summer and more recently served as the beginning and end point for Bedlam Theater and Live Action Set’s “Big Lowdown,” a tour that brought visitors to live performances spread throughout Lowertown.

Punk-folk rocker Patti Smith performed Sept. 12, and a multimedia show called “Riders on the Orphan Train” hosted a performance Thursday, with another scheduled for Sunday.

Frederick Melo was once sued by a reader for $2 million but kept on writing. He came to the Pioneer Press in 2005 and brings a testy East Coast attitude to St. Paul beat reporting. He spent nearly six years covering crime in the Dakota County courts before switching focus to the St. Paul mayor's office, city council, and all things neighborhood-related, from the city's churches to its parks and light rail. A resident of Hamline-Midway, he is married to a Frogtown woman. He Tweets with manic intensity at @FrederickMelo.

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